Picking your most perfect BPM solution can be quite challenging. There are lots of tools available on the market, and most of them seem to be adequate and functional. So, which one is the best? And what are the most efficient features you should look at when choosing the BPM solution which will work for you and your business? Let’s discuss these features one by one and then compare the best BPM tools we know.
Source Code Availability
Most companies never provide source code, guarding it as if it were a Coca-Cola secret. In fact, source code is seldom a major asset, and it’s hardly understandable what all the fuss is about. It is not a super secret recipe your competitors could use to make their own product. That is why it is only logical to give the source code away to the customer.
Drag&Drop Interaction
The main goal of any BPM tool is to help you effectively manage form and business process development time with drag&drop interaction, shorten your release cycle and reduce your project TCO.
Frontend based on REACT
React is greatly praised by developers for allowing them to make very fast loading UIs and providing a great user experience, and is highly advised to be used for front-end development. Choose the BPM tool which supports real-time web functionality using the ability to have server-side code push content to the connected clients in the process. It is a crucial feature if you are building applications that require collaboration between users. It’s also great if your BPM tool allows you to integrate your own front-end into its architecture!
Whole project in one solution
With most BPM applications you have to install lots of additional components, and it might be problematic if you want to use Debug, Publish, Unit Testing and other essential functions of you IDE. That is why it is simply awesome if you are lucky to find a BPM tool which allows you to modify your project in your favourite IDE (Visual Studio or JetBrains Rider).
REST API & Open API support
In most cases software development life-cycle involves APIs. Using REST API and Open API will help you save time and avoid errors when writing code. Therefore make sure your BPM tool supports integration with external systems through REST API and OpenAPI.
VCS Branching Support
One of the hardest challenges for any software developer is tracking the state of the source code and merging changes from separate branches. If your BPM solution can be used with Agile, Scrum and Kanban methodologies, it improves speed and efficiency of development workflow.
Cross-Platform Compatibility
It’s a crucial and often overlooked feature, don’t you think? Not all developers work on Windows. Many prefer MacOS and Linux, which means that lots of pretty decent software tools will be useless to them, simply because their support Windows only. That is why in many cases cross-platform compatibility might be a critical factor when choosing a BPM tool that suits you best.
Full Product Information / Access to Demo/Trial/Documentation
Keep in mind that providing full product information, use cases and demo download links on the website and being in all cases open to communication is a sign of an honest seller, confident of their product and services’ high quality.
Choosing From The Top Six BPM Tools
Now we’ve discussed the most essential BPM features, let’s look at the top six BPM solutions available on the market today and compare them.
* Use DWKit in your Visual Studio Solution
